Brotherly Love
by Rowana Renee
Summary: It hardly ever rains in Persia. When it does, it rains hard. What happens when three bored Princes are stuck inside together? Two words: Total Warfare. Rated for violence


Brotherly Love

It really wasn't difficult, once they thought it over for a little while. There were three of them, the palace had far more than three rooms, it would have been more than easy to just stay away from each other. In fact, normally they were able to stay away from each other. The only difference was that now they weren't allowed to go outside because it was raining, and that meant the lot of them were sulking like caged animals and, incidentally, didn't think to do as they usually did and _stay away from each other_.

And of course it started with Dastan.

Dastan had only been in the royal family for three years, and he'd only just gotten used to the fact that people would look at him strangely if he did a backflip off of the stairs and climbed all of the many things in the palace that so _begged _to be climbed, he didn't like sitting still, or standing still. After all, why walk when one could run, or, in Dastans' case, why not run when, instead, you could attempt to get your neck broken in more places than any other human being in history. Or in more places than a girrafe, now _that _would really be something, wouldn't it?

Consequently, he did't mind rain very much. And that was exactly why he was trying to slip past Tus so he could go outside and find Bis, then the two of them could practice their newest trick and-

Tus grabbed him by the arm. "Where are you going?"

Dastan stared at him like he couldn't understand what Tus was saying. "Um...well..." he dodged sideways, away from Tus, and puffed up regally. Well...as regally as he could manage. "I'm...er...making sure that the thieves don't get in!" he announced, "And you're...eh...interrupting my patrol."

Tus raised an eyebrow. "Making sure the thieves don't get in?" he said slowly, pausing for several seconds between each word.

Dastan nodded happily.

Tus grinned hugely and whacked Dastan on the shoulder. "But brother, you're already in!" he exclaimed, spinning Dastan around and giving him a small push in the direction he'd come from. "You're not going outside to get yourself killed, I know it's a burning ambition of yours but not today."

Dastan sulked visably. "But I'm allowed to get myself killed when the sun's shining?"

Tus nodded. "Exactly. Now go away so I can read."

* * *

"But Gaaaarrrssiiiiiiiiiv..."

Garsiv winced as the whining voice penetrated his hearing. He wasn't going to look, no he mustn't look. "But Daaaaaastaaaaaan." he snarled mockingly, turning a page in his book so forcefully that it ripped away from the spine. He would have to blame that on Dastan later, perhaps _do _that to Dastan later. This had been going on for thirty minutes.

Wait...there had been silence for over five seconds...something was terribly wrong. Maybe the little brat had gone away? No that was too much to hope for. Garsiv tentatively looked up...

And screamed in shock. Dastan was mere inches away from him, trying to see the book that Garsiv was reading. "What's that about?" he asked, pointing to the book.

Garsiv stood up, not bothering with the fact that that made him ram heads with Dastan in the process. "Go away!" he shrieked, actually _feeling _the inner realms of hell behind his eyes start to ignite with fury.

Dastan was really obnoxious enough to attempt to use his wounded puppy face against Garsiv. It had worked once in the past, once. He wasn't getting another victory. "Why?"

Garsiv reached for his sword only to find that he wasn't wearing it at the moment. "Because you're about three seconds away from getting beaten, killed, beaten again, throttled, killed, strangled, killed, and my favourite, killed."

Dastan blinked stupidly. "How're you going to do that? You don't have your sword..."

Garsiv held up his hands menacingly and Dastan paled as he remembered the sight of his older brother dismantling a pineapple with those same two hands only a week ago. Perhaps not quite as disturbing as watching Garsiv use them to rip open a coconut, but that had been horrible enough that Dastan swore his mind had blocked it out. "Try me, little brother." Garsiv hissed.

That was not the right thing to say...

* * *

Tus wasn't quite sure, but he was fairly certain that the blur that ran past him in the hallway was Dastan, followed by a very Garsiv-shaped blur that was screaming profanity as loudly as it could and groping mindlessly in attempt to catch hold of the previous blur and then maul it until it was suitably unrecognizable. But surely it was all in good fun...

Only a few seconds after the two blurs disappeared around a corner Dastan came hurtling back into view, running toward Tus and, instead of dashing to the side to avoid impact, tackled his brother in a hug before running behind him. "Garsiv's trying to kill me!" he yelped, mimicing Tus' movements so as to remain safely behind him.

Tus sighed and very nearly slapped himself. "What did you do this time?"

Dastan sulked. "Why does it always have to be that I did something?" he whined.

Garsiv came roaring back into view, hardly noticing Tus and instead trying to get behind him so he could get at Dastan. "I'm done, little brother, I'm going to kill you! And then I'm going to beg the gods to return you to life so I can kill you again!"

Dastan yelped and, as Tus stopped turning in effort to keep Dastan behind him and out of reach of Garsiv, dived in front of Tus, which of course made himself and Garsiv wind up chasing each other _around _Tus, who was still trying to work out what was happening. "Who started it?" he asked unhelpfully.

Garsiv pointed at Dastan. "Obviously Dastan started it!"

Dastan looked offended. "I did not!"

Tus and Garsiv both shot him looks of utter disbelief. "Since when did you not start it?"

Dastan glared. "Well there was that time when-"

His words ended in a yelp as Garsiv landed on top of him, pinning him to the floor and punching him several times before Dastan realized that all he had to do was move his head out of the way and then-

CRACK!

"OW! YOU LITTLE-!"

Tus watched for a moment, mildly interested. He convinced himself that he'd intervene when someone was either crying or bleeding. Or both.

Now Garsiv and Dastan were both screaming incomprehensible things at each other, the origin of which Tus didn't even want to know. Of course, almost everything Dastan knew he'd learned from Garsiv. But he had the advantage, he'd lived in the streets up until three years ago, he knew how to fight dirty.

Even Garsiv recoiled at some of the phrasology and, as a result, loosened his grip around Dastans' neck just enough...

And was sent flying into Tus, who received a solid punch in the nose. That was a bit much on Tus' patience, but he made a mental note to let Garsiv get a few good hits in on Dastan later, to be fair and all.

Now it was Dastans' turn to watch, not sure if he should be horrified or in awe. But he didn't have terribly long to think about it before he was grabbed and jerked into the fray. At least it wasn't boring...

* * *

There was almost nothing that Sharaman enjoyed more after a long day of governing his country than seeing his sons and perhaps having a conversation with them, provided they weren't too caught up in trying to murder each other. He couldn't recall ever getting in such tangles with Nizam, but then he realized, he and Nizam had always been terribly close. The thought of Nizam ever even trying to lift a finger against him was almost funny; it would never happen! He supposed he must have been lucky or something, more knowing than supposing when he saw what greeted him in the eastern hallway on his way to his chambers.

First there was Tus, his oldest son, muttering rapidly under his breath and trying to repair a broken vase merely by holding the two halves of it together. His left eye was black and, Sharaman noticed, his nose was at a very odd angle...

Then there was Garsiv, sitting on top of a wriggling lump. He bore a triumphant expression, bleeding lip and therefore bloodstained teeth giving him a rabid sort of look.

Sharaman could only asume that said wriggling lump was Dastan, who was kicking vainly in hope of catching Garsiv and becoming able to resume the battle for dominance.

"Boys?"

All three of them yelped and jerked to attention, although Garsiv didn't bother getting off of Dastan first.

And Tus was autimatically on the defensive for his two younger brothers. "They did it!" he announced, glaring at them.

Garsiv and Dastan gaped in shock. "Wha-? You did it too!"

Dastan decided to make an attempt at that which he knew would never work in a million years. "It was Gar and Tus!" he said, a note of begging in his voice.

Garsiv sat down again, slamming his hand down onto Dastans' head and introducing the boys' face to the floor once more. "Whatever you say, little brother."

Sharaman chuckled quietly at that, walking over and hauling both of them to their feet. "You all look like you just arrived back from a war-" he began.

Garsiv puffed out his chest, grinning with pleasure. "I was winning."

Dastan cuffed him around the head. "You were not! You just had the advantage for a few seconds!"

Garsiv got him in a headlock. "I was too! You were right about to yield!"

Dastan punched him in the stomach. "You were not! I was almost out from under you!"

Garsiv twisted his head just a little too much. "I was too! Five minutes ago you gave up completely!"

Dastan kneed him. Hard. And it wasn't in the gut. "I win!" he jeered as he danced out of reach, moving behind Tus so as to avoid the impending physical harm that was coming.

Sharaman sighed heavily. "My sons." he said, now getting the slightest bit annoyed with them, "Who started it?"

Tus and Garsiv both looked pointedly at Dastan, who glared at Garsiv. "All I did was ask Garsiv what he was reading!" he defended.

Tus gaped. "And he attacked you?"

Dastan nodded, but Garsiv disagreed. "I did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Enough!" Sharaman chided, "Garsiv?"

Garsiv glowered. "I was going to attack him, but he wouldn't stop talking and then I threatened the little...sorry...and he wouldn't stop so then I attacked him."

Dastan smiled triumphantly. "See, it's Garsivs' fault!"

Tus frowned. "But you know how he is, and you wouldn't leave him alone..."

Dastan shrugged. "But it was still his fault."

Sharaman decided that it was time for a lecture. Maybe that would knock some sense into his sons. "The three of you are brothers, you do realize that. And as such you're meant to protect and guide each other, Tus, you're supposed to look after Garsiv and Dastan, Garsiv, you're supposed to watch over Dastan. And Dastan, you're supposed to help when Garsiv and Tus together can't reach a desicion. You three have a bond stronger than any other, the bond between brothers-" he looked up to make sure they were following.

Tus was paying rapt attention, hanging on his every word, whereas Garsiv was frowning, probably at the idea that mauling his brothers within an inch of their lives wasn't acceptable. And Dastan was...staring off into space. Sharaman couldn't tell if that was a good sign or a bad one, but he supposed that undevided attention from all three sons was too much to ask for.

"Do you all understand?" he attempted.

Tus nodded several times. "Yes Father."

Garsiv nodded grudgingly and looked sideways at Dastan. "Yes father..."

Dastan blinked in surprise, noticing that all of them were looking at him. "Yes father..."

Sharaman nodded, pleased. "Good, now I want all of you to hug each other and apologize for the injuries you've caused."

They all looked appalled. "Ew! What? I have to hug _him_?"

Dastan wrinkled his nose in disgust as he looked at Garsiv. "I'd rather hug a corpse!"

Garsiv needed no further invitation. "You be the corpse!" he began advancing dangerously.

Dastan made a small sound that sounded like "eep!" and backed away, eventually giving up going slowly and just turning tail to run as fast as he could to escape.

Garsiv growled in annoyance and took off after him. "I'm going to kill you!"

Tus and Sharaman exchanged glances. "Well," Tus said, "I'll _try _to keep them out of trouble..."

Sharaman sighed heavily. "I thought talking to them would be enough, but I was wrong. Let them figure it out on their own, I wouldn't ask you to come between them if the fate of the kingdom depended on it...it's a doomed effort..."

Tus nodded wisely. "I know."

There was a crash from down the hall, followed by a, "Dastan did it!"


End file.
